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A single goal win over Western United in Gosford, April 30, has put the Central Coast Mariners one point away from securing a finals place – one draw from their remaining two games will now be enough to secure a finals berth. See
Kuolity finish all but assures Mariners a finals berth
FOOTBALL A single goal win over Western United in Gosford, April 30, has put the Central Coast Mariners one point away from securing a finals place – one draw from their remaining two games will now be enough to secure a finals berth.
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The late goal by Garang Kuol broke the scoreless deadlock, pushing the blue and yellow four and five points clear of the finals contenders Macarthur and Sydney FC respectively.
Macarthur were subsequently defeated by the Newcastle Jets on Sunday, ruling them out for the 2022 finals series.
The win by the Mariners also dented Western United’s hopes of topping the A-League ladder.
Encouraged by the return of the Marching Band in the Central Coast Stadium stands, the Mariners brought an unmatched physicality that undermined Western’s attack from the get-go.
The Mariners also displayed an ever-growing array of goal scoring potential with shots on target coming from four new singings this season under Head Coach, Nick Montgomery.
Beni N’Kololo and Jason Cummings brought early moments of doubt to Western’s star keeper, Jamie Young, forcing saves from the League’s leader in clean sheets.
The Mariners came close to the breakthrough initially in the 61st minute when Matheus Moresche slipped the ball neatly into the side of the net, only to be disallowed when N’Kololo’s assist was found to have been crossed from outside the field of play.
Monty’s 74th minute substitution brought Kuol into the fray and it took the academy product seven minutes to find the winning goal.
Given space to turn onto his inside left boot off a pass from Marcos Urena, Kuol used spin and precision to swing the ball beyond Young’s reach and into the goal to score his third in six games.
Over the remaining 15 minutes, the Mariners focused on their late-game defence and prevented Western from accruing another shot on target to secure the win
The blue and yellow can still reach fourth and a home final with wins in both remaining matches against Brisbane Roar, away on May 3, and the Newcastle Jets, at home on May 7.
At 36 points on the ladder and with Sydney FC now their only danger on 31 with two games to play, a single draw will ensure the Mariners passage to the finals on goal differences.
Coash Montgomery was upbeat after the win.
“We have two games to go and we haven’t done anything yet,” he said.
“We don’t fear anybody, we go out every week to try win the game.
“We’ve got one home game to go (against the Jets) after going to Brisbane on Tuesday, but we’ll go there with the same mindset to get a result.”
Garang Kuol scores the winning goal against Western United, Saturday April 30
Haakon Barry
Avoca Beach prevails in close encounter with Razorbacks
RUGBY UNION The Ourimbah Razorbacks suffered a narrow 19-24 defeat at the hands of Avoca Beach in the match of the round at Woongarrah No. 2 Oval on Saturday, April 30.
The match was transferred north from Ourimbah Rugby Park which was unavailable to the the wet weather.
After an even encounter and a late surge from the Razorbacks, Avoca Beach was able to lead throughout and clinch victory.
Avoca Beach opened the scoring with a converted try to Josh Parish and then quickly followed this up with a penalty goal, to take an early 10 points to nil lead.
However, the Razorbacks were able to respond before half time with their own converted try and the match was very much up for grabs at that stage.
Avoca Beach went further ahead early in the second half when Parish crossed for his second try.
But once again the Razorbacks responded.
Both teams scored two tries apiece in the second stanza to keep the scores tight.
Best players for Avoca Beach were winger Josh Parish, who scored all three tries for his team, hooker Cooper Elliott, and No.8 Fion Henderson-Foley.
The Razorbacks were best served by winger Ryan Bender, who crossed for two tries, lock James Mann and No.8 Rob Peden.
At Ettalong Oval, The Lakes recorded a 51 points to 5 victory over Woy Woy.
This match was also moved from Woy Woy Oval where a drainage issue made the oval unavailable.
The Lakes took control early in this match and never looked back, going in at half-time up 26 points to nil and then continuing to pile on the points in the second half.
Centre Lathan HutchinsonWalters, winger Daniele Cakuseru, and flanker Peni Rauluni all had big games for The Lakes while Woy Woy’s No.8 Tali Sitani and flanker Jazper Doak-Stride provided some resistance.
In other matches, Kariong proved too strong at home for Hornsby, winning 54 points to 10, including an incredible six tries scored by Sean Peruch, while Terrigal thrashed Gosford 93 points to nil.
In the Women’s 10’s rugby, Avoca Beach defeated Kariong Razorbacks 27-0 and Hornsby defeated The Lakes 17-5 in two high quality games of rugby.
